The Sun. — London, England, 1809-10-13 00:00:00

s tA.M-PA:r6 Xi :Ir 5 6' P‘:t.V. PARIS, Saar. i'RENCri 'OFFICIAL RETORT .COICTINOED. [FROM THE INIONITELTB.] ti BATTLE OF TALAVERA. DE LA REYNA. At day break of the 28th, the enemy was seen at the top of the hillock, where he had planted fonr pieces of cannon. A line of infantry, having its lett at the hillock, and its tight at Talavera, was strengthened upon the hillock and in the Wain by a second line, supported by close columns in mass; and in the rear of the infantry were perceived heads of columns of cavalry. At the extremity of the left of the enemy's army, some squadrons watched the valley b e tween the mountain and the hillock. These Stitriclf ons were,supported by two or three battalions. Your Majesty stem orders to Marshal the Duke of tellueo, to commence the attack. The Marshal , e ) delegat e d this operation to General Ruffin. 1 . 1 General disposed three regiments in the following tndntter:—The gte light infantry on the light, the 24th in the centre, and the 96th on the left ; in clostecnludins, by div istoes and battalions. In this order that division advanced. A file of musketry was soo n opened, and the 24th regiment speedily obtained possession of the first platform of the : it still continued its attack, supported by the gth and 9Gth regiments. It had nearly gained the summit of the hillock, and taken the cann. , n, when - the enemy attacked it, as well as the 9th and 96th, with fresh troops. The engagement was obstinate and sanguinary ; our troops were obliged to quit the hillock, and retreated. Your Majesty, who watch ed the attack, directed by Marshal the Duke of Bel luno, saw yourself that the - 'retrograde movement of Ruttin's division was executed slowly, in good order. The 9th, 24th, and 96th, shewed themselves worthy their - reputation. Marshal the Duke de Belluno has informed your Majesty, that Generals Raffin and - Barais, who commanded this attack, distinguished themselves for the excellent dispositions which they made, and the coolness with which they executed 'them. Marshal the Duke de Belluno adds, that they were ably seconded by the Chif de BataillOn, Regeau, commanding the 9th, Col. Jamin, of the 24th, and Chefde Bataillon, Loyard, of the 96th ; r that the latter was wounded, as well as Chaltier, Aid te-camp to General Ruffin, and Auguste Vil ivaturin, Aid-de-camp to Gen. Barois. During the attack of the hillock, the 4th corps was in motion. One brigade of the Ist division ad , vaneed upon th e l e f t of Lapisse's division ; the other brigade formed in echelon, in the rear. General Leval's division watched Talavera. One brigade of the 4th corps, coming from Atanjeuz, re-id not yet reached the field of battle. Your Majesty's reserve was in the rear of the left of the isedivision, and of t he right of Gen. Leval's division. The cavalry was Si) ihe plain, in the rear of the infantry. The attack of the hillock having proved unsuccess ful., your Majesty repaired to Marshal the Duke of Beaulto, and, after reconnoitring the line and dis positions of the hostile army, resolved to order a ge neral attack on his whole front. You accordingly gave the directions for the following dispositions Marshal the Duke of Belluno was to attack the ,hillock with his three divisions. Gen. Sebasttaid was ordered to post the Ist davi taibrt in two lines, on the left of Gen. Lapisse's di vision, bat a little in the rear, and to add to the se cond of this d4ision, the brigade of the 4th Nv4e u it arrived s - Gen. Milhaud's division of dra gc)cins Was place(' on thiJeft of the line, to watch Talavera. G • en• Latour Maubourg's division, and t t iev i rd n e orders to f light horse, under Gen. Merlin, re corps, advance upon the rear of the Ist which occupied an open spot, in order to support it, and to be abte to proceed into the plain when, the hillock should be taken. The reserve was placed in a third line, behind the 4th corps. The mov e ment of the 4th corps attraeted the ene my's notice, and a very brisk cannonade soon coin Me ticed . Leval's division, which was to form in eche/ I ° 4 behind the line, advanced, on the contrary, before it. This mistake was occasioned by the ruggedness of the ground and the impossibility of perceiving the line, among the olive-trees and vines. This di- Vision had not finished deploying, when it was at tacked by the enemy with upwards of 15,000 men. General Leval immediately supported his lett by a square, and himself attacked the enemy, who was thrown i n t o confusion, and left the field of battle covered with his dead. An English regiment had grounded its. arms, and surrendered when the Co lonel of the regiment by which it had been cut off fell dead. The regiment then made a retrograde movement, and the English regiment found itself at liberty. No more than about too men, the Ma jor, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Colonel, could be re tained. The enemy sent fresh troops against Leval's division. Your Majesty perceiving that this division lad-engaged too Soon, ordered it to fall back upon the ground which it should have occupied. General Sebastiani caused this movement to be executed, and to be supported by the second brigade of the division. The line being formed, as your Majesty had de termined, the troops of the 4th corps waited till the Duke de Belluno had commenced the attack of the hillock, before they began to aa. The troops of the tst corps were soon engaged. General Lapisse passed the ravine, supported by General Latour Maubourg's cavalry, and also by-two batteries, each o f e i g h t pieces of cannon. General v ilaue threatened the hillock, and covered the val ley. G enera l Ruffin, proceeding alon the foot of the great c h ain of hills, endeavoured to reach the enemy's left. At the same instant, the troops of the 4th corps advanced, and a very brisk fire of musqueiry soon commenced, seconded on both sides by a well-sup-, ported fire of artillery. The attack of Lapisse's division was at first suc cessful. This attack was powerfully seconded by the artillery of the Ist corps, directed by General DabbOville. It was likewise supported by the move ments which General Latour Maubourg ordered the cavalry to make ; but, notwithstanding the valour of the troops, and the intrepidity of General Lapisse, this division could not maintain its ground upon the right At this moment that gallant General' received a Mortal wound. The army Was thus `de:: prived of one of its good General Officers, and his. 1 0.5 s was deeply regretted by all military men. 1 The retrograde movement of Lapisse's division A ,- I e'b r -as-l'iii i t s di'visioti, exposed thc right o. Jet.. n. .1 • - enemy advanced upon that division in'tonsiierable force. General Ray, commanding the-first brigade 'ot that division, charged the enemy with the 28th regiment in column, and the 32d deployed in a second line. This charge checked the enemy, who renewed the attack three several times, but Was often repulsed. Tire enemy having concentrated the troops of his right, advanced against General Beloir's brigade ; that General marched to meet the enemy, and rout ed him. In spite of the difficulties of the ground, the 75th regiment had reached the plain, by forcing the enemy's line, when the charge of cavalry check ed his . movement; Colonel Buquet was dangerous ly wounded and taken prisoner. General Sebas riani caused his division to be supported by General Leval's, which, forming in a square on his left, not only kept the whole right of the enemy in check, but gave the second brigade time to form in column, and,to oblige the enemy to take a posi tion farther back. While the fourth corps was gallantly fighting, the Duke de Belluno bad a 1 i aoself rallied Lapisse's divk 1 sion, anciconduCted it again to the foot of the lock. General Villatte arranged the brigade which was intended to cover the valley. The battalion of grenadiers, commanded by the Chef de Battaillon, Bigez, was already formed in column. The 27th regiment made the same movement, when the ene 7 my direeted a charge of cavalry against that intantry. It was received will) the utmost coolness and Intre pidity by the grenadier battalion and the 2701 .light regiment. Numbers of horses and men tell at the feet of the ranks of the infantry. The English re giment of the 23d light dragoons, which headed thiS charge, in spite of the fire of the27th and ot thegrena dier battalion, kept up the engage tweet in the valley, passing between Villatte's and Ruffin's divisions. General Stroltz's brigade, composed of the loth and 26th horse chasseurs, advanced to meet it. Gene ral Stroltz manceuvred with his troops, with a view to iuffer the enemy's regiment to pass, anti to charge it in !he tear. The contusion was soon complete. General Marlin, with the pikernen (lanci.7rs) and the light horse, took the enemy in front and flank : only five men of the 23d light dragoons escaped, the whole being either killed ortaken. The line occupied by the hostile army, at the beginning of the engagement, was now, in a great measure, in possession of the Imperial army. The post: of Talavera_ was attacked by the 4th corps, as was also the hillock, by Ruffin's division, which formed the extremity of the right of our line. The enemy had withdrawn his. artillery from the hillock, o: at least desisted from using it. From some re connoissances on the side of Talavera, it appeared that there was a much smaller number of troops at that post, than at the beginning of the action. In short, every thing announced that nothing but a vi gorous blow was wanting to overthrow the enemy's army, and to enable our cavalry to come up : it was too late to undertake this operation. Your Majesty, however, was disposed to attempt it the next morn ing, when some Officers came to inform you, that the right of the first corps was turned, and that it could not remain in the position which it occupied. Other Officers, on the contrary, reported that Mar shal the Duke de Belluno was of opinion, that the enemy's army would not be able to withstand a new attack. In the uncertainty into which your Majesty was thrown bf these different reports, you wrote yourself to the Duke de Belluno to ascertain the truth. It was ten at night ; we had all bivouaqued for the night, about your Majesty, in the persuasion that the action would be renewed the next morning, or at least that your Majesty would not pursue a con trary course, till you had ascertained, by day-light, the dispositions of the hostile army. At day-break, however, your Majesty was awakened by General Sebastiani, who . had fallen back upon the reserve ss ith the 4th corps, and who announced to your Majesty, that he had made this movement, because theist corps was retiring upon Casalegas, along the foot of the hills. There was now no time to deliberate ; it was ne cessary to Follow the movement. The reserve and the 4th corps began their march. General Milhaud's division formed the rear. The movement was ex: ecuted slowly and in good order ; the enemy did not pursue. Your Majesty arrived at the position of the Alberche, by the high Toad from Talavera to Madrid, at the same time that the first corps reach ed it by the road of Casas de Salinas. Some. Gen eral Officers, who had staid behind, having acquaint.. ed your Majesty that there were a few more wound ed in the environs of Talavera, your Majesty ordered General Latour Maubourg to advance his division. (Here follows a list of the principal Officers who were killed or wounded in the battle, and of those who distinguished themselves.] The loss of the combined army may be computed at 10,000. The English Generals Mackenzie and Langwoith were killed, and a third General was wounded. Many Officers of distinetion have perish ed, and eight days aft e r t h e b a ttl e , 200 Officers, and 4000 wounded, whom the e n em y h a d not b een a bl e. to remove, army is f i s u a i r e e w d is a e r T co a n la s v id e e ra r . ible T i l e ft consistsfoss f the f o al ve a'rm w 600 killed, and about 4000 wounded ; two thirds of the latter being but slightly wounded, will soon re join their corps. (To be continued.) At a dinner given a few days ago by the Corpora. tion of the City of Cork, to his Grace the Duke of RICHMOND, a Gentleman proposed the following toast . :—" The glorious and immortal memory of King WILLIAM 111, who put down Pope and Popery."—The LORD LIEUTENANT immediately rose, and objeaed to drink that toast : and having commented with some severity on its evident tend ency, his Grace " trusted no toast would be per severed in of a similar nature." ThiS severe and timely rebuke had a due effect, and was received with much sati&fa&ion by the enlightened and liberal. The Lon)) LIEUTENANT h3S always taken occasion in public Assemblies to declare, " that his mission to Ireland had principally for its object, by express and earnest desire of the Sovereign, to con ciliate, not to estrange the affe&ions of the Roman Catholic Body, as well as every other class of the people." Yesterday morning eighty carpenters, thirty-se ven bricklayers, and other NVorkmert, went to Dept ford to embark tor Walcheren, where they are to be employed in building barracks, • COUiiT OF COMMON COCA CIE. TH . LIRS6AY, 'OCT. it'. Yesterday a Court of Cornmon Conn:oil Was held. After the transadson of 'Smile private business, Mr.,DixoN rnoved, that the Culnatittee appointed to draw up the . Address be empovered to maize the necessary artangetnents for the Coiporation going to alibrch• Mr. Sheriff Wool) said, that agreeably to the or der of the Coutt, he went up yesterday to his Ma jesty, at St. James's, to ascertain when it would be his Majesty's Royal pleasure to receive the dutiful Address of the City of London, when his Majesty uas graciously pleased to appoint Wednesday, the Ist of Noyetnber, to rec!,;ive it, at the King's Palace; a; ;IA o o'clock. • . . SAMUEL DIXOt!T suggested , the necessity, of Makin. some alteration in the Address, correspond lug with the alteration of the . d4y-, as it. was expe&- ed that the Corporation would go to church, and take up the Address on the same ci9T and moved, that the Committee should withdraw, ;.-tud make the necessary alterations. , The Committee . then : ,withdrew, and after a . short absence, reported the Address, in its amentiedslate which, during the absence of strangers, the Coot having been cleared; was. read and agreed to. Alderman GoonantatiE , begged leave to call the attention of the Court 10,3 paragraph which appear ed in a Morning Paper yeoerday. It was" apara graph, he said, extremely ridiculous, but material ly t,oncerning the privileges of the Members of that Court. The statement he alluded to, related to a person no less insignificant than himself, and was as follows : " We have been informed of the substance of Mr. Alder man Goodbehere's motion, which is expected to be brought lima to morrow, at the Court ot Common Council. In charity to the mover, we forbear to insert it, consisting, as it does, of a recapitulation ot assertions yr hielt have been dis. proved, and from which their authors have- with shame been found to shrink ; and we have only to express our hope that every lover of order will attend, and sliew' their independence by voting it an iniamous libel." In answer to this he begged positively to declare, that he had no motion prepared in form or substance, nor had he seen, nor did he know of any such mo tion being in contemplation ; he could only, there fore declare the whole of the paragraph to be a di rect falsehood. He was as desirous as any man to encourage the right of an Englishman in freedom of .speech, or in freedom of printing ; but it became his duty ro take care that no false imputations or er- roneous charges should affea his charaeter. .It also became his duty to deprecate and oppose any con- duet that could implicate the Court and Common Council, or any one of its members; and from that conviction he deemed it -incumbent to address the Court on the present occasion. There was another. paragraph in the same Paper, and immediately succeeding the one he had just read, which was equally false and unfounded. It was to the following eited " We understand the Lord-Mayor has given ordeis that no strange►s be in future admitted behind the bar in the Court of Common Council. We are not surprised at this order, after the insults which some of the members have lately received." This possibly was the produdhon of the same hand as the former ; but it would be ridicUlcus to suppose that such things as those could transpire, or could be deemed of any use, unless there were some persons behind the curtain of that Court, who con ceived the publication of such falsehoods would-serv-t their party. If this should prove to be the case, he could only deem himself unworthy of being a mem ber of a Curt where such persons were. Mr. WAITHMAN said, ho conceived the honour of the Court was deeply implicated in the matter on which the worthy Alderman, had just addressed them. The paragraphs alluded to contained not only a gross and scandalous libel on a worthy Ma gistrate whose conduCt and charatier stood unim peached, but it also conveyed an atrocious libel on the Lord Mayor himself, in stating that his Lordship had given orders that no strangers should in future be admitted behind the bar. On reading this shame ful assertion, he inm t 4 acted ieniarcly iled upon his Lord ship, who unhesitatingly _declared it was not the fat* ; and from the. knowledge he had of his Lord ship's sentiments, he felt assured • he would not low such a track. With r,speti to the paragraphs themselves, he would ask, it there was one indivi dual in the Court who did not entertain a strong convidion, that they came from some of the mem bers of the Court Upon a fair view of the circum stances, he could harbour ,no other feeling. Gen tlemen would recoiled that there t as something precisely of the same sort at the time of the business of Sir H. Popham, and he thought he could recog nize the same style and manner. Some days ago it was asserted in the same Print, that the Jubilee was to be celebrated by a new party originating whh Mr. J. Dixon. Upon the whole, he had so firm a be lief of the quarter from whence these things ori ginated, that nothing could erase the opinion from his mind short of absolute demonstration. In fad, nothing could conyinee him that they did not originate in that Court. He had a Member in his eye (casting a significant glance at Mr. James, Dixon), who he had no doubt was deeply impli cated in these transations. He, for one, would never oppose the full and fair discussion of public measures ; but for any individual to convey a para- • graph reflecting on a worthy Magistrate, a mem ber of the Court, and with a view of prejudicing the proceedings of the Court, he trusted there was not a man who would not hold up his hand in support of the strongest censu:e on such an in dividual; and if the person could be openly CA posed, he would be the first to propose measures „for his condemnation. With respell to the charac ter of the worthy Magistrate alluded to, that was, too high and held in too much estimation to be im paired ,in the minds of his fellow-citizens; it evi dently appeared therefore that, the paragraph was in serted to induce persons to attend, under the idea that something improper was to be brought forward for discussion, and to prejudice their • minds in the first instance against it, be it what it would. When he first saw the paragraph he asked the worthy Ma gistrate whether it was founded in truth ? He im mediately declared, upon his honour, thatihe whole was a talSehood. He did not know of language sufficiently strong or reprehensible that could be used towards the individual, if.cliscovered ; and he trusted the Court would at a future period take some steps respecting this paragraph. Mr. JAMES DIXON declared, in the' most solemn manner, that be had not the slightest knowledge of ti.i ijifitiipli . 1 - ,vilic - h i'i , :eiiticin*iCl his name till 'il'e .'s-':'; it, nor bad he any thing to do with its Origin Or daYicy. With r'esPea to the Scurrilous latignaz , which was leVeiled at him; he Wi)nid . OulY uti - serve, that if he - had the liberty..ot Speaking ali he kneW‘,. he should make that Gentlethan (Mr. Waithmanj, .ashamed 61 hi, uondutit towards him.' Although he was an advocate fur 'the liberty, be shy Ito mean; an advocate for the licentioubness of tree preSs. Ht could only again repeat his conteMpt of ttiu o:ppro brious language that had been uses towar,ls him, and declare that the paragraph; - stating hat the establiSh mem of the Jubilee was by " Jaine6D xon, - wholly unknown to him, and without his privity or -consent. Mr. WArritistAN.---" The gentlernati has riot de nied that this last paragrapti wt! ' 4 .!'"!t• rating or writing.7----(Pere Mr.' Waithinan was in terrupted byaeenerul cry of " Aothing before the Court.") Mr. SAMUEL Dixon* said - , it was not his Wi , h to use any language that could give offence to Court, and if he should be led to make any horst, t. - marks, they were..such only as toe occasion COLI: , A . justify. If the Lord Mayor would allow names to be mentioned, and personal allusions to be made . , there would be an cod - to all decorum in the Court. CG old gentlemen forget the scurrilous paragraphs which appeared in the public prints un a lave Occa sion, with reference to that Court ? They were re plete with the most gross and bestial language that could be conceived, and yet they could not be sup posed to proceed from any Member of the Couri.-- (Cries of 'Go on,t - with the regular business.")--- He could with safety say, there was not one man in England who caused more paragraphs to be to - !;ert.Al than that very gentleman who now so loudly repro bated the practice. The Lottp MAYOR now interfered, and said there was no question before the Coutt A long discussion then took place relative to the appointment of an Alderman, to sit as Magistiate in the Borough of Southwark, in pursuance of ancient charter, and the question was finally referred to a Court of Aldermen for consideration. It being then nearly four o'clock, Mr. ILFaS~Le, who had frequently risen at intervals, during the late altercation, to call the attention of the Court, ex pressed a hope that at the next summons ot the Court, be should have an opportunity of bringing forward a motion relative to the Resolution of the Court of Common Council, on the ist'ot August, resPeaing Gwyllitn Lloyd Aardle, Esq. The Court 'then proceeded to the eleatiOn of a Clerk of Newgate Market, in the room ot Mr, Thomas, who was dismissed last Court. After the petitions were read, and the ballot taken and cast up, there appeared a majority of two in favour df William Sherri"), citizen and weaver, who wa s de clared duly elected durir:g the pleasure of the Court. The Special Finance Cotutnittes presented a Re port, recotulending a salary to be allowed to the Clerk of the Works, which alto souse ,iebdte, Wa!, agreed to, and ordered to tie laid tietnre the Cottrt of Aldermen. . The account brought by the Eliza merchantman, stating the foundet tog or tiis Majesty's ship the Lark off St. Domingo, bit the 3a of A.igust, leaves many families in great distress. Captain RoBERT Nicno- LAS, late vice-Governor of Comm, and second sou of Mr. NICHOLAS; of the Excise-Office there, co,n manded her;' for though made Post in his Niaje4tv'i Ship the Garland, in July, the removes ha..t not ac tually taken place. It is to be obscred, that though the fads are confirmed by letters fiom Cura coa, yet the source ot intormation is the same, vii. a conversation at Curacoa with his Majesty's ship the Tweed, who had the intelligence on , q e a ki ng his Majesty's ship the Moselle, on her passage from St. Domingo to Curacoa, who stated, that She had picked •up one white and two black seamen, on the 4th of August, saved cn a raft irom the Lark, which they said had foundered on the - 3d; but even it is not positively remembered by the t who have come forward to relate all they know ) that it was the Moselle with whom the J. -puke, nor does it appear that any report Was ma.te t the Ad miralty by the last pat:ket, though it sailed so late as eight days after the accident is stated to hate hap pened, and it is well k nowt) that vessels go in 11,vei,t; hours from st. Domingo - to Jamaica, though it takes froM five to nine days to return. No source of information will be to be depended on by the relatives of those on board, for whose Conshlatina this is intended, but the report which must be made by Admiral ROWLEY to the Admiralty, and whi'± must come by the - next packet. Last afternoon, in l'ook's -court, Cnrsitor-street,' a man ttll from a two-pair-ot-stairs window, while it, the ad of painting it, and dreadfully - fractured his skull. He is the apprentice of Mr. Atkins, of Fkur de-lis-court. The accident was occasioned by the machine giving way. SMITHFIELD-MARKET, OCT. x 3. This day's Market was pretty well supplied with different kinds of Cattle ; Mutton and Pork are dearer than our last report Beef is cheaper ; Veal supports last price ; and the trade in general wad but indifferent.—The sales in the Hay Market were somewhat dull ; Straw has fallen in price since Mon day's Market 5 Hay and Clover fetched a better price.—We subjoin a correct statement of the price and numbers : To sink the. OM! per stone of Sib. Beef 4s. 2d. to ss. od.—Motton4s 2d. to ss. 4 d.—Ve ss. Gd. to 7s. oc.i.—Pork 6s. cd. to 7s. cad. Beasts, 83o.—Sheep, - 6,4oo.—Calves, 300.--Pigs, 250. SMITH FIELD H AY•I4:A }MEL Hay, sl. tos. od. t.) 01. tos. od.— Str.: vt, ti. iss. od. to 21,. OS, od.—Clover 61. to. od. to 71. tos. od. Con N-EXCHANGE,OCT. I 3.-'.--The stippTy of Wheat this day is inconsiderable, but bales continue to he heavily effe6led, and again at ra,th4.-r lower prices; good Barley keeps its price, but inferior 15 cheaper; Malt, with the two kinds of Beans, hardly at last prices ; White Peas nearly at our last quotation ; the supplies of Oats are considerable, and cheaptt ; Flour heavy sale, at ihe late redutliOn ; fine Ameri can, 565. to (So. per barrel; Wheit . 76$ a 88s a loos ' Tick Pearls - -30 s a 553 Fine ditto .. - less a 108 s ; Oats• 7 - i6i a 3os 4 ass Rye - - 7 545. a 60, 1 Poland ciao - 3 , s s a . 4e3 Wiley . - *- .48s•a 36s Power ditto - —a a __ s Malt - - .. 765• a bps , Rape Seed . . 431 a 53 j White Pease - 92 a. Os Fine Flour . 9 " ~ 9 ,- 4 Grey ditto ses a 56s SOGQII4I6 ... ++ . tss a). iiieitos a a v. 40$ a ass